(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to stress testing of integrated circuit modules and more particularly to detecting test board malfunction and to protecting devices under test from damage due to test board malfunction.
(2) Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,515 to Pryor et al. describes a circuit protection circuit which uses the base or gate of a switching transistor to sense overcurrents. When an overcurrent is experienced, a control transistor switches on causing the switching transistor to turn off. A shunt switching circuit to shunt the overcurrent across the load may also be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,025 to Rutchik et al. describes an alternating current, overload current sensing, remote power controller.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,391 to Shimizu et al. describes a load short state detection circuit.
The invention of this Patent Application uses a resistor network to detect shorting between adjacent contacts of a test socket used in stress testing of integrated circuit modules. The resistor network forms a protection circuit which protects the modules under test as well as indicates when a malfunction has occurred.